Their ruin
was as rapid as their rise. To Murray, on the other hand, perhaps their
inferior in the average arts of calculation, a vigorous native sense,
tempering a genuine enthusiasm for what was excellent in literature,
gave precisely that mixture of dash and steadiness which was needed to
satisfy the complicated requirements of the public taste.
A high sense of rectitude is apparent in all his business transactions;
and Charles Knight did him no more than justice in saying that he had
"left an example of talent and honourable conduct which would long be a
model for those who aim at distinction in the profession." He would have
nothing to do with what was poor and shabby. When it was suggested to
him, as a young publisher, that his former partner was ready to bear
part of the risk in a contemplated undertaking, he refused to associate
his fortunes with a man who conducted his business on methods that he
did not approve. "I cannot allow my name to stand with his, because he
undersells all other publishers at the regular and advertised prices."
Boundless as was his admiration for the genius of Scott and Byron, he
abandoned one of the most cherished objects of his ambition-to be the
publisher of new works by the author of "Waverley"--rather than involve
himself further in transactions which he foresaw must lead to discredit
and disaster; and, at the risk of a quarrel, strove to recall Byron to
the ways of sound literature, when through his wayward genius he seemed
to be drifting into an unworthy course.
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